<p>Hi,</p>
<p>A relative of mine for a very long time was a professor at Duke University. Will this make my application more "competitive"? Will I have any advantage?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>No and no.</p>
<p>It won’t make you any more competitive, but it may give you a slight edge…
They’ll glance at it in a positive note, but don’t expect it to push you to acceptance.</p>
<p>Parent, yes, grandparent, maybe, third cousin twice removed, no.</p>
<p>Here’s the reality: for faculty, their DIRECT children may be given preferential admssions review due to the nature of faculty contracts – it’s a perk to attract good profs. But since this was only a relative and not your mom or dad, it’s inconsequential.</p>
<p>I disagree with hobbit above.</p>